Flickr Photo of the Month: Trappings of Yingpan Man [Dec. 2010]

There are some amazing photographers that wander the halls of HMNS, and when we’re lucky, they share what they capture in our HMNS Flickr pool. This month, we’re re-starting a series where we’ll share one of these photos on the blog each month.

The Beauty of Xioahe may have been the exhibit’s celebrity but the Yingpan Man still captured me. His simple funerary mask with the delicately painted eyebrows and the gold leaf evoke a sense of elegance and peace that I hope he carried with him into the after life.

Inspired? Most of the Museum’s galleries are open for photography, and we’d love for you to share your shots with us on Flickr, Facebook or Twitter. Check out the HMNS photo policy for guidelines.

Photography is prohibited in this exhibition during general hours. If you’d like to join one of our Flickr meetups, check out our Flickr group Discussions page for updates on upcoming events.

There’d probably more more photographers if so many of the exhibit halls weren’t patrolled by guards screaming “no cameras”. What’s even the point of the “no camera” policy? Has anyone ever not seen an exhibit because of a picture?

I just remember the Body Works, and Terracotta Warriors: I’d almost rather not bring my camera.

Photography is allowed in most of our permanent exhibitions (excluding the Hall of the Americas, as the artifacts are made of fragile organic materials that can be damaged by flash – you can see the Museum’s photo policy in the second paragraph on this page).

For our traveling exhibitions – like Body Worlds, Terra Cotta Warriors and Secrets of the Silk Road – the exhibition lenders determine the rules regarding photography, which we are contractually obligated to enforce.

As mentioned in the post, we do seek special permission from the lenders for one-time meetups in these cases (which was granted for both Silk Road and Terra Cota Warriors), where Flickr photographers can have access to the exhibit during non-public hours, assuming they follow specific guidelines requested by the lenders. The meetups are open to any photographer with a Flickr account (which is free to set up online). You can follow announcements of upcoming events at the Museum’s group page on Flickr.

I hope this answered your questions, and that we’ll see you at the next event!

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